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NATCHEZ — With 3:12 remaining in the game and two timeouts to work with, Adams County Christian School had plenty of time to move down the field for the game-winning touchdown against Oak Forest Academy on Friday.

Even with a five-yard penalty that backed the Rebels from the Yellow Jackets’ 1-yard line to the 6-yard line with 0:07 left, the Rebels still knew what to do — either score on 3^rd down or get down close and immediately call time out. Which they did with just two seconds left after Coleman Carter got down to the 1.

Then Carter ran in on a quarterback keeper as time expired, giving ACCS a thrilling 28-23 comeback win over the Yellow Jackets in a pivotal MAIS District 3-5A game for both teams at Bobby Marks Stadium.

“Having that much time left and two timeouts left, we were comfortable with that. We were not nervous at all,” ACCS assistant coach Matthew Freeman said. “Coleman got us to close down there that we had to go for it. If we got a few yards (after the penalty), we would’ve called a timeout and kicked the field goal. But when Coleman got it down to the 1, our seniors voted to go for it and it worked out for us.”

And it was head coach David King who called the play to give the ball to their best player — senior quarterback Carter.

“Very good play calling by coach King. He made some very good play-calling tonight,” Freeman said.

That all went down after Oak Forest Academy (4-2, 2-1) went ahead on Cole Covington’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Kaul Perkins and Fortenberry’s extra point which just went inside the left upright for a 23-22 lead.

“It was close. We were hoping that he missed it. It was very close,” Freeman said of the PAT. In fact, the Rebels intentionally jumped offsides twice to try to get the Yellow Jackets to go for two instead. But they didn’t.

And had it not been for the outstanding effort of ACCS’s defense in the first half, perhaps the Yellow Jackets would have won the game. The Rebels went up 15-0 at halftime thanks to a nine-yard TD run by Carter with 3:41 left in the first quarter and his amazing 40-yard TD pass to Cedric Owens on 4^th-and-23 with five seconds left until halftime.

“He made an incredible play before halftime. He avoided a sack somehow and heaved a 40-yard pass to Cedric, who was standing at the 2-yard line (ready for the pass to go to him,” Freeman said.

As for the defensive effort, Freeman noted, “First half, defense pitched a shutout. Second half, we had a couple of mess-ups. A couple of missed alignments. We gave up a couple of big plays. We should’ve been up 35-7, 35-14. Oak Forest is a good ball team, but we let them hang around.”

Kentrell Stampley had a team-leading eight tackles while Sean Kerry Cothern had six tackles and Braden Poole had five tackles. Parker Roach and Tristan Burns each had four tackles, but the defense did not force any turnovers. Burns also had a 47-yard kickoff return which set up Carter’s 3-yard TD run with 7:56 left in the third quarter that gave the Rebels a 22-7 lead before the Yellow Jackets answered with a 63-yard TD pass from Covington to Perkins just 20 seconds later. However, Fortenberry missed the extra point, leaving them trailing at the point 22-13.

Freeman added that every time ACCS and Oak Forest have played each other the last four or five years, the outcome has come down to the wire.

“We’re ecstatic. Fans on both sides were electric. It was a great atmosphere. It was like a playoff game,” Freeman said.

While Coleman didn’t have his best performance throwing the ball against the Yellow Jackets, going 8-for-15 for 122 yards and two interceptions, he more than made up for that with his TD pass to Owens as well as 12 carries for 70 yards and three touchdown runs.

Adrian Walker had his best rushing performance of the season by far as he had 13 carries for 102 yards while Sean Kerry Cothern had seven carries for 26 yards, some of which led to key first downs to keep drives alive. Owens finished with four receptions for 71 yards.

“Linemen did great. Run game definitely played a big factor in tonight’s win. Coleman and Adrian had some big runs for us. Coleman used his legs a lot more tonight,” Freeman said.

ACCS (5-1, 2-0) plays host to Silliman Institute at 7 p.m. next Friday in another key district game. Last year on their way to winning the Class 5A state championship, the Rebels lost to the Wildcats on the road.

“That was a must-win game for us. Huge win. Now we play host to Silliman. We lost to them last year. We felt like we should have won the game. The players want to avenge that loss. They’ve had this marked down on their calendars,” Freeman said.